Our boys both wore their life jackets at the Poly. The Poly actually has some you can use as well, but we brought our own so we didnt have to worry if they were all being used. Also, we have always stood at the bottom of the slide waiting for our boys. We stand off to the side a little and then they waved to us from the top to let us know they are getting on the slide, then once we saw them coming down, we stepped right in front of the slide to catch them. No life guard has ever said anything to us about it...they just want you to move quickly away from the bottom of the slide once you have your child.